Apples and Rivers
by BlackWhite Rain
Summary: A little hobbit sat kneeling at the edge of a bank looking at his reflection in the clear water. He smiled as another face appeared in the calm water. Pippin loves apples; Merry loves wading in the shallow water. But what if Pip cant swim? K  for fluff.


A/N: This is my fanfiction. Hope you guys like it! Please review! :D  
>Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR. J.R.R Tolkien does.<p>

Chapter One: Apple Pickin'

A pair of wide green eyes stared into the Brandywine River. A little hobbit sat kneeling at the edge of a bank looking at his reflection in the clear water. He smiled as another face appeared in the calm water.

"Merry!" Pippin jumped up and ran into his cousin's unsuspecting arms. "Where have you been Merry? I've been waiting for AGES!"

"Oh Pip…" He chuckled. "I've only been gone for about 20 minutes, and you know that all too well!"

Scattered around the floor where the apples that Merry had been spending the past minutes picking. The older hobbit suddenly changed his expression.

"Pippin! Those were perfectly good apples that I risked my life on those trees for! And now most of them are bruised!" He scowled down at the young hobbit.

Pippin looked up at Merry with a look full of shame. He felt the tears begin to well up in his eyes. He didn't mean to drop all the apples.

Merry felt sorry for yelling at the poor hobbit. "I'm sure it was an accident…" He thought.

"Aw… I can't stay mad at you forever!" He bent down and hugged Pippin and was given a hug in return.

Pippin looked up into Merry's eyes and smiled. "I'll help you pick more apples Merry!"

Much to Pippin's delight Merry nodded and they head out into the nearby forest. Soon, Pippin stopped and looked at some trees.

"Are THESE the trees you risked your life on Merry?" He looked at the trees in astonishment.

"Yep! Those are it Pippin…." Merry replied without looking.

"What do you mean? They're so small….." He looked once more at the trees. The nearest branch was in easy access to Pippin and the top of the tree was no more than a couple feet away from Pippin's head.

"What…?" Merry looked back at Pippin. "Oh! Nope! They were much bigger than that!" He replied in embarrassment.

"Really…? Because I see some footprints that look an awful lot like yours!" Pippin smiled. He had him caught.

"Those aren't mine silly! Lets keep moving." He blushed and grabbed Pippin's arm and dragged him along.

After more walking, they found an area of the forest that still had fresh apples hanging from the trees. Merry looked at the tall trees and gasped.

"Wow…. These are huge…."

"Bigger than the ones you climbed to get those apples Merry?" Pippin smiled a devious smile.

"Psh! Of course not Pip! What do you take me for?"

Pippin just laughed and ran over to the nearest apple covered tree and attempted to jump to the nearest branch.

"Here, let me help you!" Merry chuckled as his younger cousin struggled to hang on to the branch. He gave Pippin a lift and started to make his way towards another branch where he was stopped with an encounter with a thrown stick. The stick thrower was none other than Pippin, sitting perched on a branch.

"No! I want to be as brave as you! I'm going to climb this tree by myself!" And with that, he started on his climb up. Merry giggled as Pippin struggled to climb higher and higher; branch after branch. At last Pippin found a nice place to sit down and rest.

"Look Mer! Apples!" His little head spun around excitedly, looking for a good place to start picking. "Here, I'll pick them and throw them down to you! Just catch them ok?" He shouted out the directions in a boss-like manner.

Merry nodded, and at once apples were being chucked at his head. He struggled to grab them as he frantically ran around. He turned around and was met with an apple in his face.

Pippin gasped. "Are you ok Merry?"

"I'm fine Pip," Merry sighed. "I think that's enough Pip, now come down!"

Poor Pippin was already far up in the tree and looked down. The ground was so far away and Merry looked like a tiny speck! Well, maybe not that tiny of a speck, but still. Pippin whimpered and shook his head.

"Jump! I'll catch you!" Merry opened his arms wide and waited for Pippin. Pippin just shook his head once more and refused to move. Merry sighed. "Please Pip?"

"Can't you come up here and help me?" Pippin whined.

"Uh…." Merry blushed. "I'm not that much of a climber Pip…"

"What about those tall trees you climbed to get those apples?"

"Well… Those tiny trees back there were actually the trees I climbed…"

Pippin began to whine. "Please Merry?"

"I can't Pippin…" Merry remembered the last time he climbed a tree that tall. He was with cousin Frodo.

_Frodo had found the best spot in the tree to look over the entire forest. _

_ "Come on Merry! It's just a bit further!"_

_ Merry grunted as he pulled himself up and continued to climb. They finally reached the top of the tree and Merry gasped as he looked down. They were so high up! After what seemed like hours to Merry, Frodo finally decided that they should climb down and head back to Brandy Hall to make it back before dinner was on the table. As Merry started to climb down, he grabbed onto a loose branch. The branch cracked under his weight and he fell. _

_ "MERRY!" _

_ Merry opened his eyes and found that he was lying on the forest floor. Frodo was nearing the bottom of the tree and jumped down. He ran over and knelt down by Merry. _

_ "Are you hurt?" _

_ "I don't know...AAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!" Merry screamed as he tried to get up. His leg was twisted in a wrong way and hurt whenever he put pressure on it. _

_ "Oh no…." Frodo felt guilty. "Here, I'll help you up." Frodo pulled Merry up and helped him walk all the way to Brandy Hall. When they got there, Merry's mom was naturally worried. They fetched the nurse and Frodo stayed by Merry, helping him with everyday tasks until he was better. When he got home to Bag End, he received a good scolding from Bilbo. _

A small whimper snapped Merry out of his thoughts. Pippin finally gained the courage to jump and thus called out to Merry. Merry opened his arms once more and Pippin leapt off the branch. He soared through the air and landed right on top of Merry.


End file.
